MAJOR BOOST FOR WORLD HERITAGE SITE

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1 FROM YOUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS AN UPDATE FROM CORNWALL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY S AREA REPRESENTATIVES THIS MONTH S STORIES: NOVEMBER 2017 MAJOR BOOST FOR WORLD HERITAGE SITE NEW AREA REPRESENTATIVE FINDS LOST FEATURE ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE MORE HERITAGE DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY VEHICLES A PATHWAY TO THE PAST MAJOR BOOST FOR WORLD HERITAGE SITE The Treffry Viaduct/Aqueduct and Luxulyan Valley will soon benefit from a 3.6 million pound award from the Heritage Lottery Fund. In conjunction with this, Cornwall Council, which owns most of the valley, will pay for a new hydro-electric turbine at Ponts Mill, with funds from the sale of power to the National Grid being used to continue conservation in the valley beyond the life of the project. In

2 all, over 5 million will be invested, to the benefit of heritage, biodiversity, employment and public well-being. It has taken a great deal of time and effort to get to this point. In 2015, HLF awarded 411,000 to prepare a second stage application and it is the success of this that has brought the rewards. It is impossible to list everyone who has secured this result. Many Cornwall Council officers wrestled, not only with the considerable engineering and logistical difficulties, but also the complex negotiations with neighbouring landowners in order to acquire rights of access. Cornwall Heritage Trust, which owns the viaduct/aqueduct, has strained itself to the limit to support the project and is investing a substantial sum of money. John Smith, who wrote the definitive study of the archaeology of the valley, is very actively involved on behalf of the Trust. Dr Christine Garwood led a major investigation into matters of access, education and community access. World Heritage Site officers, English Heritage, and numerous other bodies, including voluntary groups, such as Friends of Luxulyan Valley, all played a part. Everyone involved deserves a pat on the back. On the left is the Fowey Consols leat, constructed about This still carries water for the Ponts Mill turbine but will need to be repaired extensively. Water management is essential to the project and this has meant it has been necessary to negotiate with the Environment Agency and to get access agreements with neighbouring landowners. The valley contains numerous industrial remains but the most famous is Treffry s viaduct and aqueduct. The latter took water in the Carmears leat across the valley, originally to provide power for trucks on the incline plane, but more recently to help generate hydro-electricity. One reason why the valley is special is because it is possible to see how the features linked together as a working system. It has always attracted considerable interest, as this extract from the Royal Cornwall Gazette report on the laying of the first stone on Wednesday 6 th March 1839 indicates:

3 The viaduct is for the purpose of carrying a line of railway across the valley, from the terminus of the Par canal, which extends about three miles from Par breakwater, to Roche, a distance of about seven miles; and the whole is undertaken at the expense of Mr Treffry, whose public spirited exertions, and immense outlay of capital, are the theme of universal praise and admiration. The viaduct will be 640 feet between the abutments, and will consist of 10 arches, each of 40 feet span. The height from the foundation will be about 95 feet, and the width of the base of the piers 26 ft. by 10 ft. 6in. The top of the viaduct will be 10 feet wide; and the whole will present a very beautiful appearance, and will be a great relief to the rugged and romantic valley which it is intended to cross. Treffry s coat of arms. The black streaks are the result of water leaking from the aqueduct. A stainless steel trough will be inserted in to the structure to carry water across. A woodland management plan will be carried out but in the short term some trees, such as those next to the viaduct and the leats, may need to be felled.

4 Access to the valley, particularly for construction vehicles, will be challenging. It is intended to encourage more people to enjoy the valley but it will remain a quiet place, not a destination for huge crowds. In the foreground, the Charlestown leat crosses over the Carmears leat. The latter will once more carry water. The viaduct will need to be closed to the public while engineering work is carried out.

5 A mystery: what are these shallow depressions on both sides of some of the granite sleepers? T for Treffry on a boundary stone next to the Carmears tramway leading from the viaduct to the top of the incline plane. On the other side is K for Kendall, a neighbouring landowner. In 1839 the Royal Cornwall Gazette reporter felt it worth remarking that the ladies also appeared to participate in the joyous feelings prevailing at the foundation ceremony. Hopefully, attitudes are rather more enlightened 178 years later but there are definitely joyous feelings at the news!

6 For more information, go to the website of Friends of Luxulyan Valley (including a link to John Smith s 1988 archaeological report) and Cornwall Heritage Trust ( NEW AREA REPRESENTATIVE FINDS LOST FEATURE New Area Representative Rosy Hanns has got off the mark by locating a very significant postmedieval milepost. The Historic Environment Record ( notes that there was a milestone next to the A38 near Torr Farm in Menheniot parish but that: It is not recorded on the modern mapping, suggesting that it is lost. Not being content with this annoying absence of evidence she managed to locate it along the drive leading to Torr Farm. Happily it is in excellent condition. Photographs: Rosy Hanns Rosy contacted the expert on the subject, Ian Thompson, from the Milestone Society, who was delighted that she had tracked it down. Apparently, cast iron mileposts are rare in Cornwall, only being used by the Liskeard Turnpike Trust. Ian met the farmer, who explained how he had found the object dumped on his land after road construction in Fortunately, he realised that this was an important feature, so cleaned and painted it before fixing it next to his drive. Not only that, he is agreeable to Ian s suggestion that the milepost be re-erected in a safe, suitable position next to the A38. Ian is consulting Highways England about his. Ian wonders if other metal mileposts lie in fields adjacent to the A38, so any information would be welcome. (For those who attend the CAS lectures in Liskeard, look out for the cast iron milepost next the roundabout near Morrison s.)

7 The Milestone Society s website is: Ian Thompson s book, Cornish Milestones, the development of Cornwall s roads in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Twelveheads Press) won the Holyer an Gof prize in ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE Linda and David Edyvean have recently come to the aid of a roadside casualty. The victim was leaning at a drunken angle and was in dire need of reassembly after a bodged effort at first aid by persons unknown. Happily, being made of stone it is likely to make a full recovery. A damaged guide-stone on the verge of the B3266 near the Hellandbridge turning Photographs: David Edyvean

8 This later picture shows the stone leaning in an unstable fashion. In spite of the use of cement the top was loose. Photograph: David Edyvean David contacted Ann Preston-Jones, of Historic England, who, with the assistance of Ann Reynolds, Senior Archaeologist, Strategic Historic Environment Service, managed to contact the relevant authority, with the result that Cornwall Council Highways will make the monument safe and secure once again.

9 MORE HERITAGE DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY VEHICLES Yet again Area Reps are finding evidence of the destructive effect of modern traffic on our heritage. Diana Sutherland took these photographs of the havoc wreaked by an enormous articulated lorry which managed to come down a medieval street in Launceston and demolish a listed wall on one side and an unlisted one on the other side. It was removed by a heavy goods recovery vehicle. Diana adds that the wall suffers regularly by less large vehicles which cut the corner and adds, with evident feeling, that Launceston was not made for modern traffic. Photographs: Diana Sutherland

10 Damage to the county s historic bridges is repeated with depressing frequency. This example, Clapper Bridge in St Mellion parish, was reported by Rosy Hanns. This is the view looking the direction of Callington. Note the damaged parapet on the right. Photograph: Rosy Hanns A close-up view of the damage Photograph: Rosy Hanns

11 A PATHWAY TO THE PAST This month s round-up finishes on a positive note. The best that can be managed for many heritage features is a managed decline, at least enough to prolong for future generations a tangible part of our past. The restoration of the Luxulyan viaduct and leat system is rare in that it goes beyond that aim, by extending and slightly adjusting the use of historic features. In other cases, swathes of the landscape may have been profoundly altered by previous activities without leaving easily identifiable buildings or earthworks. These are still important, still part of our heritage, and may additionally be invaluable as habitats for wildlife. One such example is the Criggan Moor area which straddles the parishes of Roche and Luxulyan. The most profound impact on this area has been centuries of tin streaming, creating, diverting and generally playing havoc with watercourses, besides digging and delving all over the place. The result is a wonderful wilderness, now one of the Mid-Cornwall Moors Sites of Special Scientific Interest (see: Cormac have just finished reinstating a public footpath in this area, running from Criggan Farm to Ennisvath. Now, for the first time in a generation, it is possible to visit this special landscape, formed over centuries and now protected. Great credit is due to the team that carried out his work in this remote, overgrown, waterlogged environment. Anyone interested in the archaeology of the area is advised to consult: Herring, P, and Smith, J R The Archaeology of the St Austell China-Clay Area, Cornwall Archaeological Unit, which is available at: Criggan Moor a former area of extensive alluvial streamworks. Now it can be visited safely.

12 In the last edition of From Your Own Correspondents mention was made of Gunwen Chapel in Luxulyan, which is on the 2017 Heritage at Risk Register, yet has been magnificently restored. Entries for each register have to be made by June in each year; consequently remedial work may take place before publication, as was the case with Gunwen. Inclusion is not necessarily a cause for gloom either; very often, it gives the impetus for action as has been shown with the good news about the Treffry viaduct/aqueduct. Area Representatives would love to hear from fellow CAS members, and the general public, about any feature of the historic environment in their parishes, whether a new discovery, something causing concern, or even just to answer queries. If you have any concerns, or new information, about any archaeological feature, please contact the Area Representative for the parish. If you do not know who that is, just look at the inside back cover of the latest journal, Cornish Archaeology 54, or contact our secretary at: secretary@cornisharchaeology.org.uk. Finally, opinions in these articles are personal and must not be assumed to be those of Cornwall Archaeological Society. Roger Smith, 1 st December 2017